More Magical Musings for TMA6

It seems to me that most magical spells would fall under only a few types.  Most games published today dress them up and modify them slightly so that the druid can summon better while the wizard can throw a better fireball.  Stuff like that.  I am taking a different rout by using broad spell types.  You can then add opposites to double the number of spells.  A caster will have a set number of points per battle to cast spells.  Each spell will have a casting cost.  Spells will be assigned to caster types.  I might even add some sort of passive effect for each caster.  Here are some of the spells I’ve come up with so far.

Haste: Allows the target unit to move D6″.  A’6′ doubles the unit’s movement.  1 turn duration.  Cost 2 points.

Slow: Deducts D6″ from the target unit’s move.  A ‘6’ reduces the unit’s move to 0.  1 turn duration.  Cost 2 points.

Summon: Summons a monster to do as the caster bids.  A ‘6’ summons a large monster.  Permanent until dispelled.  3 points.

Banish:  Destroys a summoned creature if the caster can beat the opponent’s die roll.  A ‘6’ makes it automatic.  Immediate effect.

Protect: Increases the target unit’s protection by 1 class.  A ‘6’ makes the unit have the best armor in the game regardless of matchup.  Permanent until dispelled.  2 points

Negate: Decreases the target unit’s armor by 1.  A ‘6’ gives the unit the worst armor in the game regardless of matchup.  Permanent until dispelled.  2 points

Strength: Increases the target unit’s combat skill by 1.  A ‘6’ gives the unit the best combat skill in the game regardless of matchup.  Permanent until dispelled.  2 points

Enfeeble:  Decreases the target unit’s combat skill by 1.  A ‘6’ gives the target unit the worst combat skill in the game regardless of matchup.  Permanent until dispelled.  2 Points

Missile attack (Fireball Lightning etc): 1+ 1D6 per point put into the attack.  A ‘6’ doubles the effect of the points put into the fireball.  Ex. 2 points would be a 3 die fireball.  A ‘6’ effect would be a 5 die fireball.  Note that a caster may always throw a 1 die missile attack at no cost.  Instantaneous.  0-3 points

Missile shield:  Makes the target unit fully armored against normal missiles.  A ‘6’ makes the unit invulnerable to all missiles including magical ones.  1 turn.  1 point.

So that’s 10 spells right there.  I can probably come up with a few more.  A caster can not have more than 1 of each type of spell going at a time.  They could summon a creature, strengthen a unit and cast a fireball for instance.  Magic points can be variable but I suspect 10 points is a good number.  Perhaps just 1 caster per army would be enough magic for a battle.

 

 

Magic for ‘Throw Me a 6’

I’ve been pondering how to incorporate magic in Throw Me a 6.  I think I have come up with a simple but kind of interesting solution.

1. Spells, in general cost “points” not unlike other systems out there.  A wizard will have a set amount per game to use.
2. When a spell is cast, the points for the spell are expended and a success roll is made.  On a ‘1’, the spell fizzles.  On a ‘2’ through ‘5’, the spell succeeds with normal effects.  On a ‘6’, the spell critically succeeds!  ‘Throw me a 6’ right?!
3. The ‘6’ might be to simply double the effect, or add some other bonus to the spell.  Haste, might allow a unit to move a second time.  A ‘6’ would add +2″ to each move.  Fireball might be 1-3 dice depending on how many points you spend.  A ‘6’ would double the amount of dice rolled.  Fear might cause a unit to retreat as if it just lost a melee.  A ‘6’ would also cause a loss of a stand.

I think there would be a couple of broad types of casters.  Wizard, Sorcerer, Necromancer, Druid and Priest.  Each will probably have about 3 spells to choose from.  I’ll have to give it a few tests to see how it goes.

 

 

Vikings Season IV

I am a big fan of the show Vikings.  I get the skewed time line and why the writers chose to do it.  They’ve compressed the Sagas and arranged them in a way that works logically without obliterating their essence.  Just started season 4 and the first two episodes have made me wonder if the writers have gotten lazy.

Season 3 dealt with the great raid on Paris.  Now, Paris at the time (845AD) was a town on an island in the middle of the Seine.  There were no walls.  Just a river to act as a moat to keep the would-be raiders out.  In real life this worked in favor of the Norsemen and after a brief battle up river, they occupied Paris for a time until Charles the Bald paid them off with an enormous sum of loot.  There would be a repeat of this raid in 850s (or there about).  Now, the last raid occurred in 885 when 3 Norse leaders including a guy named Rollo (Yes.  That Rollo.) tried to sack Paris a third time and wasted their armies against the Parisian walls.  The Vikings left and it was only Rollo and his men left behind.  At some point he settled in Normandy and eventually agreed to play nice with the Franks becoming the Count of Rouen. Whatever the case, the writers chose to wrap all the events over the course of 60 or so years into one action.   Fine.  It’s TV.  I get it.  So you are wondering why I am telling you about Season 3?  Well read on.

In Season 4, we see that Rollo has in fact chosen to be left behind.  he does get married to Princess Giesla (not the historical Judith) but still fine.  He does not, however settle in Normandy.  Now, his men, who also chose to stay behind with him, start getting bored.  They want to talk with the newly minted Frankish noble, Rollo as to what the heck is going on!?  Rollo agrees to meet with them but brings along a horde of crossbowmen who, along with another Frankish noble, mow the entire camp down.  Wait.  What?  I guess it becomes expedient to drive the story along.

I am not optimistic about how the season is going.  It is starting to feel like Vikings is trying to be Game of Thrones Lite.  There is some freaky bondage scenes (Count Odo and the random noble woman) and some of the fights seem to be set to simply eliminate a plot obstacle.  I am still cautiously hopeful that the next few episodes will right this sinking ship.  I said cautiously.